Political Dig

Trump Proposes a Nationwide ‘Stop-And-Frisk’ Program To Attract Black Voters

Donald Trump just revealed his plan to stop crime in black communities and the three words he used to describe it has shocked the political world. The Republican presidential nominee declared that the best way to stop crime in black communities is to broaden the use of “stop and frisk,” a policing tactic that has been proved to be discriminatory against blacks and Latinos.

In an excerpt from a Fox News town hall billed as a “meeting on African-American concerns” and scheduled to air Wednesday night, Trump was asked how he would address “black-on-black crime.”

“I would do stop-and-frisk, I think you have to,” Trump replied. “We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well, and you have to be proactive.”

The practice, heavily championed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), who is now a prominent Trump supporter, have been a civil liberties nightmare, as police have been found to repeatedly use it as an excuse to harass people who have done nothing wrong.

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In 2013, two NYPD officers testified in court that their supervisors implemented a strict quota system that mandated targeting black males between the ages of 14 and 21.

The same year, a federal judge ruled the practice was being used unconstitutionally in New York, calling it a “policy of indirect racial profiling” because the New York City Police Department disproportionately targeted black and Latino men during routine traffic stops. In her ruling, Judge Shira Scheindlin wrote that stop and frisk was “a demeaning and humiliating experience” for communities of color.

It seems unlikely Trump’s endorsement of such practices will help the nominee’s standing with black voters.